About this project

When the FBI closes Desmodus, Lukos, Francesca, Rags and Gilda’s monsters-only school, they are forced by their parents to attend a public school. Now, they must try to fool their classmates and faculty all while navigating the horrors of growing up!

Monster Elementary Class Photo, Art by Caanan Grall

Monster Elementary, Volume 1, was proudly funded by Kickstarter backers on August 7, 2013 after a hard fought, 30 day campaign. A labor of love, this 92 page graphic novel has gone on to win the Independent Publisher Book Awards 2015 Gold Medal for Best Humor Graphic Novel. Now, after a successful year of exhibiting at conventions, selling online and to retailers, the Monster Elementary crew is ready to start production on Volume 2, Monster Elementary and the Egyptian Curse!

Like its predecessor, Monster Elementary and the Egyptian Curse will be a 90-95 page graphic novel made up of a series of short stories that range in length from 1 to 22 pages illustrated by a rotating cast of artists. The monsters’ adventures and experiences hiding their identities and growing up are the focal point of the book. To their surprise, they’re not allowed to eat any of the other students.

We are thrilled to share with you some of our monsters’ exciting adventures that will be included in Volume 2.

The Egyptian Curse: Rags and the gang head off to Egypt in search of Rags’ biological parents while Gilda hilariously struggles to keep it together in the desert.

Ghost Town: The gang set off to a ghost town in search of a new monsters-only school and find a far more exciting adventure.

The Break-In: Vanessa decides to get definitive proof that Desmodus is a vampire and attempts to infiltrate his home.

Kobal Returns: Kobal, the Demon Boy, returns to Kinghaven Elementary to try, yet again, to destroy the school while Des and Gilda join forces to create a bizarre, new minion.

Juice Police: Rags is put in charge of protecting the school football team’s juice cooler only to find himself at odds with Lukos.

Christmas for Desmodus: Des meets Santa Claus for the first time and receives a very special Christmas gift.

Ball Games: Francesca tries to play with other students on the playground and learns true friends will be there when you need them.

The best way to show you what Volume 2 will be like is to show you Volume 1! For the length of this Kickstarter, we have made 28 pages of Volume 1 available for reading online on our website, www.MonsterElementary.com. Just click below and see what all the hubbub is about! When you’re done, head on back over and check out the rest of our campaign.

You back? Excellent.

The following Volume 1 artists have committed to returning to Volume 2. They are super proud of their work on Volume 1 and cannot wait to show you how they’re upping their game for Volume 2.

We plan on bringing more artists into the Monster Elementary family and will announce their involvement as they commit to the project.

Wow! What a journey it’s been since July of 2013. Publishing Monster Elementary was my dream. It took over 5 years from original concept to books on my doorstep! There were so many times when it seemed like it wouldn’t happen, but it was a mission – a compulsion! I HAD to do it! And thanks to Kickstarter and 436 backers, we did it! But what do you do after your dreams come true? Keep the dream alive! Just like Charles Schulz, I want to keep telling the stories of my characters for as long as possible.

There are a lot of reasons why we need more quality, all-ages content for comics readers. For that reason, I am proud to contribute with Monster Elementary. But the truth is, I’m doing this because I’m having the time of my life. I love writing these characters and looking at the art when it arrives in my inbox. It’s like a magic trick. I write words and art appears! Writing these stories allows me to relive all the great storytelling from my childhood. Every time I pick up my pen, I travel back to all the wacky things I loved about my childhood favorites and reinvent them for Des, Lukos, Francesca, Rags and Gilda!

The money raised during this campaign will be used simply, to cover the very basics.

Artists’ Fees

Book Printing

Rewards and Shipping

Kickstarter and Payment Processing Fees

Nothing would make me happier than to keep doing this forever. You guys have helped me get this far. Now, let’s take the next step forward!

Page 2 of “The Break-In” in “Monster Elementary and the Egyptian Curse,” Words by Nicholas Doan, Art by Christopher Tupa

We have some great rewards lined up for our fans. Of course, we have digital and physical copies of Monster Elementary and the Egyptian Curse as well as copies of other digital, short comic stories by Monster Elementary talent that you may have missed from the campaign for Volume 1.

Of course, we have prints. Do we have prints! Here’s the current print line-up.

Lukos by Bobby Timony If you have the other four monsters’ solo prints from the first campaign, this is your opportunity to finish your collection.

Vanessa by Christopher Tupa Do you find yourself siding with our antagonist? Here’s your chance to let her shine in your home!

Cowzilla vs. Mechacowzilla by Lee-Roy Lahey Featuring everyone’s favorite cows, you don’t want to miss this epic showdown drawn by their original artist.

Group Wanted Poster by Cal Moray In honor of our Ghost Town story, Cal will be drawing our group of monsters on an old-fashioned Wanted Poster. It is sure to be epic.

Mystery Print! Will it be the cover? Will it be another group print? Will it be a supporting character? It’s a mystery!

Lukos Print by Bobby Timony for Monster Elementary

We have a brand new t-shirt that we’re very excited about. Cal Moray’s Wanted Poster print will also be our t-shirt design. Cal, like the last campaign, will be personally responsible for making sure the t-shirt looks just as awesome as the print. If you saw last campaign’s t-shirt, you know it’s going to be crisp, clean, and beautiful!

Original art, name-a-character tiers and the gilded “Executive Producer” credit are all up for grabs again. New for this campaign, Nick and Gwen are offering up some of their time for two, very limited packages. Nick’s package includes a 30 minute Skype session to talk about anything that strikes your fancy while Gwen is offering up her editing skills for five lucky writers. If either offer sounds interesting to you, be sure to check those tiers out for the details.

Vanessa Print by Christopher Tupa for Monster Elementary

Before we leave you to it, we need to profusely thank and congratulate our backers from our previous Volume 1 Kickstarter for a successful campaign and believing and supporting Monster Elementary. You all have been here since day one with your unwavering support and encouragement. We couldn’t be more proud and inspired by our fans.

Kickstarter is an amazing tool, network, and most importantly, a community of people who believe that good, creative work, regardless of financial ability, should exist. The community, THIS COMMUNITY, changes lives. And we are so grateful that we and you are part of this extraordinary place in time. For those that have just discovered Monster Elementary, and for those who have been here all along, we hope you’ll join Des, Lukos, Francesca, Rags, Gilda, and the Monster Elementary crew on another journey to bring the world a little bit of all-ages fun and joy.

Risks and challenges

We have learned SO MUCH from our first Kickstarter. We now know how best to format the PDF’s and have a Photoshop script built to format the pages automatically. We know how long it’s going to take to fill out the international shipping and customs forms (about 15 minutes per package) and that if you go to the post office with all of your backers’ packages on tax day, the post office employees will give you attitude for days. Because we are working with most of the same artists again, we are able to give a much more refined delivery estimate then our previous campaign.

We are dedicated to delivering you the finished product as quickly as possible. As some of you remember, on our previous Kickstarter campaign, we shipped out ALL of the domestic rewards the same day the pallet of books arrived on our doorstep. When we faced delays in production, we were honest and open about those delays. We posted updates whenever we took a step forward or back. The only challenge we face is our artists’ balancing their daily lives with working on the art and whatever life may throw at us.